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Friday, November 13, 2015

Fungi Hunting

If you are new to my blog I would like to explain that in a recent post about My Favourite Pouch I mentioned that Darling Hubbie, our neighbour, and I went on a "Fungi Hunt" with a fungi expert, a City of London Commons Ranger, and a like-minded group of people a few weeks ago.

On that earlier post I showed a couple of photographs of the fungi we saw on that walk, and today I would like to share some more!

I think this was a Shaggy Parasol!

One

This is where our walk began!

We gathered at this entrance to the Common, and, as I doubted the people on the walk would want their photographs displayed on my blog, this photo, taken a few days later, shows our meeting place and start of our walk. And, no the sweet little cat did not join us on the walk!

There were plenty of fungi to see, and these pictures are just a few of the more unusual ones. I can't promise I have the right names, I jotted them all down as we all walked and talked, but things moved fast, and there were many fungi to be seen, and lots of people chatting at the same time.

At the end of the walk our expert estimated that we had seen approximately 50 different fungi - don't worry I'm not thinking of showing all of them here, even though some were really quite lovely!

Two - Fungi that kill trees

The fungi in the following two photographs are killing the tree they are growing under or upon, respectively.

The dying tree.

The dying tree from another direction.

This tree is being killed by fungi! The tree is right on the edge of a bridleway and we were told it has to be regularly monitored, by the Rangers, for the safety of the Common's users. The fungi is attacking the tree's root system, but as the track which passes the tree has low usage this means the treatment of the tree is low priority as the chances of people being injured are slim. In the future the canopy of the tree will be thinned to take weight away, and hence reduce the chances of the tree being blown down in a storm.

Three - Waxcaps

I investigated Waxcaps on the web and found a very interesting link which informed me that all these Waxcaps are sensitive to pollution and nutrients and would disappear if the land is treated with chemicals.

Not sure of the name of this fungi - it could have been a relation of Snapping Bonnet

You will need to click on the above photograph to see it better, it is not just a mass of leaves, there are tiny white stalk-like growths - which are fungi!

Apparently this has a nickname of "King Alfred's Cakes"
or "Cramp Balls"

This inedible fungus has many intriguing names, such as King Alfred's Cakes or Cramp Balls or coal fungus (Daldinia concentrica), lives on dead and decaying wood, and especially on fallen ash trees, and indeed we found the fungus in a recently cut back clearing within the woods.

A discussion ensued as to whether the damage

to this tree was caused by Woodpeckers or not?

This next fungi is without a doubt the prettiest!

crepidotus

Our guide named these fungi at the time of our walk but as she didn't spell the names out I jotted them down quickly and have since spent a very pleasant evening looking them up on the web!

Five - Teachers Homework!

When quizzed our guide would tell us whether the fungi were edible or not!

And this is our guide's basket of homework! She said she
was taking them home to read up on these further.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the fungi we found on our walk in the countryside!

We used to eat certain fungi that we were confident were edible, but recently we have become more nervous, and now we only eat the mushrooms we buy in the shop, but I'd much rather be able to grow mushrooms in our own garden!

There are some really amazing things in nature and it's incredible how many different types of one 'thing' there are. I don't feel comfortable eating much out of the wild, mainly because I don't know enough about them. However...if I'm lucky enough to find a puff ball it's definitely going on the dinner table. My husband grew up eating morells, but they are very hard to find.

I am so envious, and a little jealous - even though I live near a forest, they don't do these kind of activities and I'd love to learn more about mushroom, but foraging in general. Seem like you had a most excellent day. Thanks for sharing.

Lovely details of all the fungi you found Barbara. When we lived in Switzerland we used to find fungi in the wild and at each police station there is an 'expert' who will verify whether they are safe to eat. I never did eat them but my husband did. However, he did have a couple of occasions when he was quite poorly afterwards!! You do have to be very careful especially if you collect them all in one basket as some of the poisonous ones only have to touch the good ones to cause a problem! It is nice to see them though and the walk through the woods must have been lovely! Christine x

Come to think of it we get some interesting fungi in our garden occasionally, but not for a while now. We probably pulled them out wrong - because you do have to be careful not to take them out from the roots, I believe.

Thank you for the cat mention! Yes, kitty will have to be on show again next year!

Hi Barbara! Thanks for coming over earlier & for your sweet comment Your walk looks to have been so much fun & very informative! I'm afraid I'm not a mushroom fan but I do remember foraging for them as a child over the fields & that I did enjoy!There are some pretty varieties as you found & some strange alien ones too!Have a lovely day!Christine

Hi Christine,Thank you for visiting, and for your kind comment!I think sometimes half the fun is in searching for fungi - they don't all have great flavour - and you can't enjoy eating them if you are worried that they might be poisonous! Have a great week!Barbara xx

This looks like fun Barbara! My favorites have always been lichens. I be like'n that lichen! The names of some of them, like Cramp Balls are especially evocative, LOL. Have you ever seen those mushroom growing kits that you can set up in your own basement? Supposedly they produce over and over again.

I can't remember if we have tried growing this kits or if it was someone we knew, but they didn't grow very well, didn't keep producing unfortunately. I think it's all to do with the way they are cut away from the stalk.

About Me

Hi, I'm Barbara. Welcome to my blog. I live on the edge of the North Downs in Surrey, England, with d.h. and our cute, bossy, chatty lady cat.
This is mostly a stitching blog, but there will be the occasional posts about walks - both country and town.
I hope you will find something you enjoy reading here, and that you will come back and visit me again!